Category Archives: Dining Plan

In December 2015, I went on the first major diet in my life. My weight was finally reaching the point where it was starting to impact my daily life so both my wife and I decided to do something about it. The diet consists of a lot of portion control and a slight increase in exercise. Since December, I have lost 60 pounds and six inches off my waist. This post is not to discuss the pros and cons of dieting and my success while on this diet. It’s to discuss how to diet and go to Disney. I have a work trip scheduled for September and a family vacation to Disney scheduled December. These will be my first trips to Disney while on this diet. So, what are some ways that you can diet (or at least not gain weight) while on a Disney vacation?

After lots of rumors and speculation as what changes Disney was going to make to the 2017 Disney Dining Plan, now we know. It is a very small change but one that should provide guests with flexibility in their dining selections.

I came across the following picture on the Por Favor Podcast Facebook page today.

photo from Por Favor Podcast Facebook Page

I could not believe what I saw. A Pop-Tart Breakfast Sandwich on the menu?!?!?! Disney has continued to push the envelope when it came to blending popular foods together. The Mac-and-Cheese Cones at Disneyland and the seasonal Golden Oak Outpost in Frontierland which serves waffle fries with a variety of toppings from BLT to BBQ pulled pork. The Grand Floridan had a regional hot dog of the day on their menu for a while.

This, however, crosses over into the irresponsible. Lots of people let their diets go when they go on vacation. That said, this breakfast sandwich is straight out of the Dr. Nick Rivera (from The Simpsons) School of Weight Gain.

Yes, this is an actual line from an actual episode of The Simpsons and now Disney has turned fantasy into reality. This time, it can do more harm than good. Pop-Tarts are full of carbs but not the good kind. The kind derived right from sugar which could lead to diabetes.

Many people go to Walt Disney World and Disneyland with the expectation that we are going to gain weight while on vacation. We expect that weight gain to come from enjoying high-quality food made by some the world’s best chefs. We don’t expect that gain to come from eating food in unhealthy combinations or in combinations that never should have been combined in the first place. This Pop-Tart Breakfast Sandwich is neither iconic (to fit into the Pop Century theme) or made with foods that should ever be combined.

Welcome to this month’s Blogorail Green Loop. Today we are discussing some of the unique dining experiences you can find at Walt Disney World.

One of my favorite unique dining experiences is at 50’s Prime Time Cafe. It gets guests back to a time when family dinners were a daily occurrence. Families were not worried about getting home from work and then rushing to get the kids to their nightly activity (sports, drama club, band, etc.). Families, in the 50’s, took the time and spent time eating together and catching up on the day before sitting down in front of the tiny television to watch some family programming.

The servers treat both the young and old as their kids. The servers play the role of mom and dad. They have high expectations. They expect to hear “please and thank you,” they expect to not to see your elbows on the table, they do not like tattle-tales, and they expect you to be a member of the clean plate club. Very few restaurants or homes are like this any more. One of the last places that I experienced this was during elementary and middle school where we had family-style lunches. The teachers sat at the head of the different tables and set the rules for the table. Some teachers were relaxed while others were strict. One teacher even went as far as having a three-strikes and no dessert policy.

But back to Disney and 50’s Prime Time Cafe. the decor is simply 1950’s from the tables to servers even down to the shows on the televisions sprinkled throughout the restaurant.

photo courtesy of saving up for disney

Who doesn’t enjoy watching the film from the opening day at Disneyland while eating their lunch or dinner. Some of the other televisions show various television shows from the 1950’s. It adds a nice piece of background ambiance to the meal.

Enough about the ambiance and decor….what about the food. The food is fantastic. Large portions and very filling. When I went with my family a couple of years ago, we went with the following. Any time fried chicken is on a Disney menu, it is going to be in front of me. So, I went with Aunt Liz’s Golden Fried Chicken. My wife could not make up her mind (everything sounded so good). She decided on A Sampling of Mom’s Favorite Recipes which is a piece of fried chicken (which meant more fried chicken for me), pot roast, and meat loaf. My daughter took in some baked chicken.

But we weren’t done. It was time for dessert. Since we were on the dining plan, we all got dessert and just like our entrees. The portions were large and filling. We couldn’t finish our dessert. I had the warm apple crisp while my wife had the brownie sundae which my daughter poached some of the ice cream out of.

I would like to thank a fellow Blogorailer, Julie from Saving Up For Disney, for letting me borrow her pictures for use in the article. The photos from my experience at 50’s Prime Time Cafe are lost somewhere on a fried laptop. So, thank you, Julie.

photo courtesy of saving up for disney – chicken pot pie at 50’s Prime Time

50’s Prime Time Cafe is one of the more unique dining experiences at Walt Disney World and take guests back to the everyday dining experience of our parents and grandparents.

For more unique Disney dining experiences,
check out the other great posts from the Blogorail!

The springtime weather in Orlando and Walt Disney World has been on the unseasonably warm side. To me, this is the perfect time to think of the top frozen snack that guests can find in Walt Disney World. A frozen snack can help cool you from the inside and help you (along with shade and hydration) from keeping things like heat exhaustion and heat stroke at bay. Nobody wants to spend time during their Disney vacation at the First Aid station.